The cars of Tintin

I was lucky enough to grow up with an older brother who happened to have a great collection of Tintin comics he was willing to share with me. Since then, I've taken great pleasure in the incredibly detailed and lively automotive drawings of Herge.

The TINTIN books are still popular and available. My 7-year old daughter has two books covering the trip to the moon. I listened to her laughing at some parts of the book especially the scene of TINTIN and Thompson growing an incredible amount of hair extremely quickly as a result of a botch up on the rocket ship.
I'm partial to the 50 Ford in this series since I owned a customized one back in my younger days.
Some books never fade to obscurity. Thank goodness.

tintin's an all time classic. i don't remember the fangio reference though, any ideas which album this is in?sounds like a jolyon wagg kind of thing to say. maybe not. surprised tintin never had much to do with grand prix races, could have been an interesting little thing, story line. too busy going to the moon and defusing international crises and trying to curb haddock's alcoholism.

Hubert Fabri, the Belgian collector who happily survived a massive shunt in his Aston Martin DBR4 at the Goodwood Revival, has a massive collection of Herge's original Tin Tin artwork...wonderfully evocative stuff...

I wonder if anyone can tell me more about a TinTin poster I saw a couple of years ago on the wall of Gregor Fisken's showroom?

Do a Google image search on 'Ascari Monaco TinTin' and you'll find a magazine cover depicting a frogman diving down on Ascari trapped in his Lancia D50 at the bottom of the Monaco harbour. Herge's illustration of the car is faithful in every respect, but the colour of Ascari's polo short and helmet seem incorrect.

As I say, it appears to be a magazine cover, but I'm not aware of a TinTin story involving Monaco '55, and I wonder if TNFers know more?
Rgds

I'm not aware of a TinTin story involving Monaco '55, and I wonder if TNFers know more?

This is a cover of the once very popular strip magazine called Tintin that featured a variety of often shorter stories of various artists.

I dont think there was ever any reference to motor racing in the actual Tintin albums, although I can't check; I had them all when I was a kid but sold them all when I blew a kart engine and needed money to rebuild it (won the next race though, so no heart feelings )

This is a cover of the once very popular strip magazine called Tintin that featured a variety of often shorter stories of various artists.

I dont think there was ever any reference to motor racing in the actual Tintin albums, although I can't check; I had them all when I was a kid but sold them all when I blew a kart engine and needed money to rebuild it (won the next race though, so no heart feelings )

In another series by Herge 'Mr. Plumps legacy', Mr. Plump dies driving a race car.

Sometimes coincidence seems inadequate to explain things that happen! Late last night I was thinking that the Tintin film had gone far too far in its realism - I think cartoons, whether traditional stop-motion, drawn or digital, should still look like cartoons. Tintin looks almost real, and not my choice, although I will watch it when I can. I then remembered a cartoon that I saw on television some years ago, but could not recall the name, only the image of a very tall steamship crawling across an ocean... Lo and behold, a few hours later I have the answer - "The Triplets of Bellville"!

I wonder if anyone can tell me more about a TinTin poster I saw a couple of years ago on the wall of Gregor Fisken's showroom?

Do a Google image search on 'Ascari Monaco TinTin' and you'll find a magazine cover depicting a frogman diving down on Ascari trapped in his Lancia D50 at the bottom of the Monaco harbour. Herge's illustration of the car is faithful in every respect, but the colour of Ascari's polo short and helmet seem incorrect.

As I say, it appears to be a magazine cover, but I'm not aware of a TinTin story involving Monaco '55, and I wonder if TNFers know more?Rgds

Paul

As FormulaOnce wrote, this is the cover of a Belgian Tintin magazine (nr 32 of 1955). It contained a 4-page story "Ascari la vie d’un grand champion" drawn by Jean Graton (who would two years later go on to give us Michel Vaillant). The cover also is the work of Graton, who did many more motorsports-related short stories in Tintin in those years.

Btw, Fangio is mentioned in one of the Tintin albums, by captain Haddock I think, I can't remember which album it is though.

Just to confirm that Rob's memory is not at fault here, in "L'affaire Tournesol" (The Calculus affair) captain Haddock says "C'est au moins Fangio qui est au volant" (It is at least Fangio at the wheel) after a car with the kidnapped professor evades a helicopter used to block the road. And by a strange coincidence, the first publication of the page where captain Haddock utters these words is Tintin magazine #32 of 1955, the cover of which depicts Ascari in the harbour, as discussed above.

Went thought the link supplied in the opening post. It would seem that Herge really liked his cars, and I like how when redoing them albums, the cars were updated to contemporary models / brands. The details which is in the cars allude to a very very keen interest and knowledge of cars.

Went thought the link supplied in the opening post. It would seem that Herge really liked his cars, and I like how when redoing them albums, the cars were updated to contemporary models / brands. The details which is in the cars allude to a very very keen interest and knowledge of cars.

Sadly I was never into Tintin as a youngster (possibly the books didn't reach Kenya in quantity). I have seen several books and excerpts since and I love details such as a 2CV braking hard and the occupants' heads making bulges in the canvas roof.

Hubert Fabri, the Belgian collector who happily survived a massive shunt in his Aston Martin DBR4 at the Goodwood Revival, has a massive collection of Herge's original Tin Tin artwork...wonderfully evocative stuff...

I can recommend highly the book "Tintin - Hergé Les Autos" by Charles Praslin and Andy Jacobs, which details the cars illustrated in the Tintin books and describes Hergé as a lover of thoroughbred and sports cars, with a particular enthusiasm for Italian cars, in particular Alfa Romeos. Only available in French, it carries numerous illustrations from the books, and details the vehicles on which they were based. It doesn't seem to be available from the Tintin shop in London, but is listed on the Belgian website. http://www.tintinbou...s-autos-fr--212Interesting website 'Tintin's Cars' http://dardel.info/tintin/indexE.html

As FormulaOnce wrote, this is the cover of a Belgian Tintin magazine (nr 32 of 1955). It contained a 4-page story "Ascari la vie d’un grand champion" drawn by Jean Graton (who would two years later go on to give us Michel Vaillant). The cover also is the work of Graton, who did many more motorsports-related short stories in Tintin in those years.

Kabouter, Formula Once

Thank you both, I've been meaning to get an answer to that question for at least two years.

I can recommend highly the book "Tintin - Hergé Les Autos" by Charles Praslin and Andy Jacobs, which details the cars illustrated in the Tintin books and describes Hergé as a lover of thoroughbred and sports cars, with a particular enthusiasm for Italian cars, in particular Alfa Romeos. Only available in French, it carries numerous illustrations from the books, and details the vehicles on which they were based. It doesn't seem to be available from the Tintin shop in London, but is listed on the Belgian website. http://www.tintinbou...s-autos-fr--212Interesting website 'Tintin's Cars' http://dardel.info/tintin/indexE.html

Going back to post #31 in this thread, my "modernized" American edition of "The Calculus Affair" (copyright 1976) has different dialogue. After the helicopter lands in the road, instead of having Capt Haddock exclaim that it's a Fangio at the wheel, he says "Thundering Typhoons! They must have a Jack Brabham at the wheel!"

Apparently the English translation of "The Calculus Affair" was done in 1960 by Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper (!) and Michael Turner. I smell a conspiracy here!

I can recommend highly the book "Tintin - Hergé Les Autos" by Charles Praslin and Andy Jacobs, which details the cars illustrated in the Tintin books and describes Hergé as a lover of thoroughbred and sports cars, with a particular enthusiasm for Italian cars, in particular Alfa Romeos. Only available in French, it carries numerous illustrations from the books, and details the vehicles on which they were based. It doesn't seem to be available from the Tintin shop in London, but is listed on the Belgian website. http://www.tintinbou...s-autos-fr--212Interesting website 'Tintin's Cars' http://dardel.info/tintin/indexE.html

Going back to post #31 in this thread, my "modernized" American edition of "The Calculus Affair" (copyright 1976) has different dialogue. After the helicopter lands in the road, instead of having Capt Haddock exclaim that it's a Fangio at the wheel, he says "Thundering Typhoons! They must have a Jack Brabham at the wheel!"

Very interesting! I wonder if in other languages there are other drivers at the wheel. Perhaps the Italian translator preferred an Ascari at the wheel? Although Fangio was a household name in Italy as well. The original Dutch translation kept Fangio in (I guess this exclamation by Captain Haddock was the first time I read about Fangio, my interest in Tintin predating my interest in motorsports history by a few years).

So now we established Mr. Pump drove Bluebird, what plane did Mr. Legrand then design??

The "Stratoneff H22" piloted by acccident by Jo and Zette to New York was an aircraft patterned after a variety of period models according to the interview of George Remi (R.G., "Herge") published in one of the many Tintin books I have gathered over the years. Interestingly he never mentioned the Caudron C460.

I grew up with Tintin and the other Belgian comic characters, such as Spirou, Jo and Zette etc. in the late 1940's and through the 1950's and 1960's. Each week, one of us (of many children from my poor mother) would rush to the local village store to purchase the new issue of the Tintin magazine, then there was a rotating order in which all of us were allowed to read it. I learned of many automotive stuff including the 1958 Scarab sports car in... Tintin first!

At the end of each year, the weekly one-page adventures of the famous reporter were condensed into an album, published by Casterman. I have them all! The prewar albums were printed black on white, and only postwar albums had colors. The prewar tales were then recreated with modernized graphics, and rehashed several times to eliminate the "politically incorrect" stories showing Remi's true hate of the Soviets, and his derision about "retarded" black Africans, greedy Americans and of course the other racist contempt about Jews.I was very lucky to be able to acquire as a teenager, four of the rare prewar albums, found at the "Marche aux Puces" (flea market) in Nice in near mint condition for a mere few Francs, and I still have them to this day:

In the later albums, Remi used the services of another cartoonist, "Jidehem", to draw all the cars and aircraft, and others also colored the strips, Remi simply drawing the outlines.

I am so sorry that Spielberg made such a mess of Tintin, and damaged its image even more than his second wife and her British lover did after Remi's death. But for us, Tintin aficionados, the early stories will always be the best and we draw a line after 1966, when Remi turned to the bizarre due to the influence of that woman.

Did anyone see tonight's documentary by BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner on the first TinTin book? Very good indeed - informative, interesting, well-paced, good narrative flow and...

Not my opinion, I'm afraid, although I managed 40 minutes before I got tired of the endless shots of a wheelchair, and the crass 'animation' of the original drawings. What makes people think that this enhances the cartoons? What right do they have to manipulate the originals? I suppose they must have obtained permission, but it was dreadful. You can improve on Herge? Well, do your own drawings...

Tony,As I mentioned in my post, George Remi second wife Fanny was a serious case who squandered the property after Remi's death, allowing rather shady characters including her British lover to sell rights to other shady Hollywoodian movie makers with little respect for Remi's work, all the way to Spielberg... The book by Hugues Dayez, "Tintin et les Heritiers" (1999, Tintin and the Heirs) explains in great detail how this woman and a man by the name of Nick Rodwell ran the Tintin empire into the ditch.For us Tintin lovers, we prefer ignoring everything what happened after and including the album "Tintin et les Picaros", that was not even completed by Remi.

As FormulaOnce wrote, this is the cover of a Belgian Tintin magazine (nr 32 of 1955). It contained a 4-page story "Ascari la vie d’un grand champion" drawn by Jean Graton (who would two years later go on to give us Michel Vaillant). The cover also is the work of Graton, who did many more motorsports-related short stories in Tintin in those years.